Tuesday
Then: He Feels It Too
If my various tests and scores like the PSA test could have all been crammed into a spreadsheet for enlightening what-if scenarios, Mark Kuipers would have been the guy to do it. Mark is one of preeminent direct response marketing minds in the country (think magazine ads for Nordic Track, Select Comfort beds, and many other products).
When I think back to all the phone conversations I had with Mark pre- and post surgery, the groaning utterance “Oh, Man” rings in my ears. With mere words spoken over the phone line, Mark was joining me in pain and, unknowingly, he was pulling some of the burden off me in the process.
Mark also didn’t know it at the time, but his stories about his selfish abandonment of wife and family in the pursuit of fly fishing nirvana -- necessary for his mental health -- struck a cord. I know I tucked away the desire to escape similarly. And when I trekked to Gunflint I felt less guilty.
Mark, a friend for nearly 20 years, hunted down through his work a little known research service by a California based hospital. With the Internet having the habit of dumping too much unfiltered information in your lap, this group used expert medical librarians to sift through books, the Web, etc. and deliver customers a custom portfolio of data. After a brief interview with the researcher about my case, within a couple of weeks my portfolio arrived.
At the time, I thumbed through this stuff – and visited various Web sites – but each time I kept telling myself: When I’m cured I want to read this stuff. Reading too much of this material made me more confused and concerned. I know Carla, who did a ton of reading, mentioned several times her frustration at wading through a flood of information when she realized there probably wasn’t much actionable in it to change any course in our actions. Instead, she often just became more confused because of all the statistics and therapies for all the variations found among prostate cancer cases. And, since we didn’t know the specifics on my cancer pre-surgery, it was frustrating trying to relate much of the data to me.
I’m not suggesting that you avoid the Web in pursuit of answers to ease your traumas. But simply put in its place by accepting its shortcomings. ¶ 1:30 PM
When I think back to all the phone conversations I had with Mark pre- and post surgery, the groaning utterance “Oh, Man” rings in my ears. With mere words spoken over the phone line, Mark was joining me in pain and, unknowingly, he was pulling some of the burden off me in the process.
Mark also didn’t know it at the time, but his stories about his selfish abandonment of wife and family in the pursuit of fly fishing nirvana -- necessary for his mental health -- struck a cord. I know I tucked away the desire to escape similarly. And when I trekked to Gunflint I felt less guilty.
Mark, a friend for nearly 20 years, hunted down through his work a little known research service by a California based hospital. With the Internet having the habit of dumping too much unfiltered information in your lap, this group used expert medical librarians to sift through books, the Web, etc. and deliver customers a custom portfolio of data. After a brief interview with the researcher about my case, within a couple of weeks my portfolio arrived.
At the time, I thumbed through this stuff – and visited various Web sites – but each time I kept telling myself: When I’m cured I want to read this stuff. Reading too much of this material made me more confused and concerned. I know Carla, who did a ton of reading, mentioned several times her frustration at wading through a flood of information when she realized there probably wasn’t much actionable in it to change any course in our actions. Instead, she often just became more confused because of all the statistics and therapies for all the variations found among prostate cancer cases. And, since we didn’t know the specifics on my cancer pre-surgery, it was frustrating trying to relate much of the data to me.
I’m not suggesting that you avoid the Web in pursuit of answers to ease your traumas. But simply put in its place by accepting its shortcomings. ¶ 1:30 PM
